Every once in a while I question something I’ve been saying about the way people react to silent films. It’s usually when one of these responses hasn’t happened for a couple or few years. And then it happens again, and… Read More »Silent Comedy Laughs
Over the last couple years, I’ve had conversations with people who’ve told me how much they like the Accidentally Preserved DVDs I’ve released. Which is really gratifying. What started out as a one-off turned into a short series that wound… Read More »16mm Film Collecting on DVDs
Every once in a while, a Cliff Bowes comedy turns up. Their rarity and scarcity explains why you probably don’t know who Cliff Bowes is. His one-reel comedies are undeservedly forgotten, but luckily some were accidentally preserved. Cliff Bowes starred… Read More »Cliff Bowes Made Lots of Cameos
In going through Chaplin’s The Adventurer for a project I’m working on, I wound up staring at a shot that usually goes by in a couple of seconds. It appears onscreen three times, and only one element is really supposed… Read More »Charlie Chaplin, “The Eel”
When I started accompanying films it was still common practice to show silent films, well…silent. They were only available in 16mm prints that had no music tracks. That’s changed thanks to DVDs and Blu-rays and video projection, but having live… Read More »Live Music at Silent Film Courses
I knew of Thomas Ince as part of the triumvirate that was the short-lived Triangle Film Company. I’d played for an Ince series at MoMA about ten years ago. Until my current Douglas MacLean project brought his name and work… Read More »Reeducating Myself About Thomas Ince
I don’t remember how or when I came up with the idea of doing silent film shows at senior living facilities. On the surface, this may not sound all that exciting in terms of the sheen of Show Business or… Read More »Silents for Seniors
Every once in a while, after one of my shows, someone will come up to me and ask me if I’m writing a book about silent film accompaniment. My answer is that I’m not, although this blog is pretty close… Read More »Ben Model’s Podcast
I know that song from Bugs Bunny cartoons. There’s no other way I’d had have heard of it, except that composer Carl Stalling stuck it in scenes where Bugs or someone else was eating. Carl Stalling had played the organ… Read More »A Cup Of Coffee, A Sandwich and You
On this episode of the podcast — I use a song-title-pun during Mostly Lost, play for the same Chaplin shorts three days in a row to work on an orchestral score, play a Möller in Rome like it’s an orchestra,… Read More »ep. 33: two takes on The Rink, organ as orchestra for a horse, melodies underscore Marion Davies